Dr. Stranger Episode 16 Recap

There’s more heart surgery in episode 16 of Dr. Stranger as well as more mind numbing action and dialogue that passes for plot around them parts. So what else is new, yes? I can’t believe after today there are two more weeks and four more episodes left of this drama. What else does the writer have up his sleeve to hurt my brain? I remain ever curious and wonder if there is a way for a jumped shark drama to maybe jump a Megalodon. I spend each episode trying to find the least nonsensical development and the least annoying character and hold onto that for my sanity. For the last few episodes that position has been occupied by Seung Hee. I continue to refer to her as Seung Hee even knowing she’s 100% Jae Hee because Seung Hee is her secret identity during this mission. It’s not another person but merely her mission name hence I treat Seung Hee/Jae Hee are interchangeable names for the same girl, Park Hoon’s fiancee. Hope folks haven’t forgotten that big romantic proposal in episode 1 as well as the acceptance and putting a ring on it afterwards. Jae Hee isn’t just Hoon’s girlfriend and the love of his life, she’s the woman he asked to marry him and she said yes. That makes their relationship more than just first love blah blah blah. Why anyone would advocate Hoon “just moving on” or claim it’s fine and dandy for him to have feelings for Soo Hyun at this juncture is beyond me.

Of course Hoon can break the engagement, heck he can even divorce Jae Hee even after they’re married if that’s what he wants. The problem is the narrative has set up an engaged and in love couple trying to make their way back together other, Soo Hyun’s interjection however natural on her part to fall for Hoon remains a third wheel spinning all alone on the side of the road but kicking up enough mud to splatter the OTP. This episode reveals she’s not ready to stop even after finding out Jae Hee is in South Korea all along and back with Hoon, but luckily for her the writer seems to hint at Jae Hee being okay with Soo Hyun’s feelings for Hoon to the extent that Jae Hee doesn’t think she’ll survive the mission so she’s setting her man up for a fall back option. That majorly sucks all around. But it leaves Jae Hee the most relatable character in that she’s stuck between a genuine rock and a hard place. Soo Hyun is stuck between nothing other than her own feelings, while Jae Joon can still give up this particular revenge plot and no dire consequences will occur. Hoon remains a character mired in passive reactions that twist and turn in the wind depending on the whim of the story. He’s neither strange or really a doctor anymore, he’s just there to represent the prize to be won by either of the leading ladies at the end.

Episode 16 recap:

Soo Hyun goes from crying to moping to breaking-and-entering (though if the door isn’t locked its not as bad) and finally snooping. It’s like she’s not involved in as much unethical medical procedures or the spy shenanigans as the other characters so it’s time to give her some crossing the line actions of her own. She sees the couple pictures of Seung Hee and Hoon on Hoon’s laptop and then rifles through his desk until she finds Seung Hee’s medical records and sees her kidney x-ray to confirm she’s in fact Jae Hee.

Hoon and Seung Hee walk in hand-in-hand and Seung Hee looks sorry that Soo Hyun has to see this. Seung Hee tries to break her hand hold but Hoon, bless his heart for finally acting like a boyfriend, keeps his fingers tightly entwined with her and repeatedly refuses to let her let go. Soo Hyun sees this pull and push before her eyes and feels even more pained.

Soo Hyun explains she’s here to apologize to him on behalf of her dad and Hoon wonders why SHE needs to be the one apologizing. Man, the way he keeps calling her bullshit excuses to come see him are pretty awesome. She thanks him for saying that and then mutters that she’s off now. Hoon grabs her arm to ask to talk but Soo Hyun says later and runs out of there like her skirt is on fire. Seung Hee gives Hoon a look to go after Soo Hyun and Hoon nods an understanding and heads out.

Hoon takes Soo Hyun to the roof and she asks why he didn’t tell her that Seung Hee is Jae Hee. Hoon is genuinely sorry he didn’t tell her but he couldn’t. He explains there is a reason for him keeping it a secret but can’t tell her what it is. Because it’s none of Soo Hyun business so says everyone. Soo Hyun wants to know what he can tell her and Hoon’s silence is the answer.

Soo Hyun calms down finally and asks when he knew Seung Hee was Jae Hee? Hoon says when he hugged Jae Hee and Soo Hyun remembers Hoon hugging her afterwards as a joking confirmation. Hoon knew Seung Hee had a reason to keep her identity a secret so he did just that. Soo Hyun thinks he ought to have told her and Hoon retorts back “why do I need to tell you?” Soo Hyun calls him a bastard, clearly blaming him for refusing to acknowledge that he knew she liked him all along. She leaves and Hoon sighs. Her thought process befuddles me too. Why would it matter if she knew Jae Hee was here or not? Soo Hyun already knew Hoon had Jae Hee yet she still liked Hoon. I don’t get her, is she expecting that Hoon has to rearrange his world to put up roadblocks to keep Soo Hyun from falling for him? Weird.

Hoon goes down to the clinic and Seung Hee worriedly asks about Soo Hyun. Hoon says she left and Seung Hee asks if he apologized to her. Hoon doesn’t think they need to apologize to Soo Hyun because they’ve done nothing wrong. PREACH IT BOY! Seung Hee says keeping the truth of her identity from her was wrong even if it was necessary since Soo Hyun has always been so good to them. She wants Hoon to come with her to apologize to Soo Hyun but he’s not going.

Hoon goes to sit down at his desk and Seung Hee reluctantly leaves. She pauses outside the clinic and watches Hoon toss her medical records CD-rom into the trash and then sadly walks away.

Soo Hyun hears Seung Hee coming home and quickly rushes to leave the apartment. She apologizes for not realizing Seung Hee was Jae Hee and knowing what her relationship was with Hoon. She hopes she didn’t do anything untoward and Seung Hee keeps trying to make conversation and get her to stay home. Soo Hyun claims she was called into the ER for an overnight shift and runs off despite Seung Hee clearly wanting to talk to her.

Soo Hyun goes to the hospital to be a doctor again rather than a lovelorn teenager crying in her room. She does zone out a bit on the job until Dr. Kim goes to thank her for taking his shift. She looks at her phone and zones out again until two other doctors call her over to look at an x-ray. She looks at it and zones out AGAIN and at this point she needs to be removed from the job before she kills a patient or three.

Seung Hee and Hoon talk on the phone about Soo Hyun and whether she’s still mad. Seung Hee knows Soo Hyun doesn’t seem well despite claiming to be fine. Hoon has been trying to call Soo Hyun but she won’t answer so he tells Seung Hee to hand her the phone. Seung Hee says Soo Hyun went to the hospital clearly to avoid her. Hoon is annoyed and tells Seung Hee that they did nothing wrong. She’s still worried and Hoon assures her that Soo Hyun won’t go to the police to turn her in as a spy. That wasn’t what Seung Hee was worried about, she’s worried Soo Hyun’s feeling terrible. Hoon tells her not to worry and ends the call.

Hoon starts to text Soo Hyun but ends up not sending it and looks very frustrated. He lays down on the bed with a frustrated sigh.

Soo Hyun is treating a patient when there is a commotion in the ER with a gangster complaining about being kept waiting for treatment. A doctor says his injury isn’t critical and there are other patients who need to be treated first. Soo Hyun goes to confront the gangster who tries to feel her up and then slaps her hard when she pushes him off. Soo Hyun slaps him right back and asks him why he’s acting like the hospital is his house and he can do whatever he wants. The gangster is about to punch Soo Hyun again when Soo Hyun walks up and punches him first. The gangster punches Hoon back and before a full blown brawl takes place the gangster leader who Hoon treated before arrives and resolves the situation.

Hoon asks if Soo Hyun is alright seeing the red welt on her face from being slapped. She sees his swollen hands and they head to the meeting room to put ice on the bruises. Soo Hyun asks why Hoon showed up and hears he’s here to check on her. Soo Hyun claims she’s okay and he chides her for escalating a situation without noting who the other person is. Soo Hyun starts to tear up and he asks if it hurts. She cries that it hurts but clearly she’s talking about her heart.

Soo Hyun stares at Hoon and asks why she’s like this? Why did he treat her like an idiot? What’s going to happen to her going forward? Soo Hyun starts to sob and Hoon pulls her into his arms to comfort her just like Jae Joon did in the last episode. He apologizes and pats her on the back. Hoon gets a call from Seung Hee and steps outside to answer it.

Seung Hee asks if Soo Hyun still hasn’t answered the phone? Hoon doesn’t know and Seung Hee suggests he go check on her. Hoon says Soo Hyun is outgoing and will be fine but doesn’t tell Seung Hee that he’s currently with Soo Hyun at the hospital. After Seung Hee ends the call, Hoon looks over at the crying Soo Hyun and sighs in frustration before going back into the room to keep patting Soo Hyun on the back and comfort her. The camera pulls back and we see that Seung Hee has been standing there watching the entire time and knows that Hoon didn’t tell her the truth that he was already checking on Soo Hyun.

Seung Hee sits in her living room and thinks back to Soo Hyun liking Hoon and how Hoon is placed in such a difficult position right now where he can’t just be a doctor who saves lives. Seung Hee takes her phone out and looks through her pictures with Hoon before starting to cry and deleting every pictures. Oh baby don’t cry. You’re doing good, it’s not your fault that Hoon is in such danger. She cries as she deletes until she has just one picture of Hoon waving left in her phone.

Seung Hee calls PM Jang out for a meeting and reveals that she told Hoon that the surgery was intended for the President. PM Jang chews her out for revealing the big secret but Seung Hee says their plan was mistake to begin with. PM Jang rages that his plan was perfect, he wanted Hoon to believe he was operating on his hated foe PM Jang when in truth the President was the one laying under the covers. Seung Hee calmly tells PM Jang that he’s mistaken, Park Hoon will always see anyone on the surgery table as a patient only and he’s a doctor who is there to save a life.

PM Jang asks if Seung Hee moved Hoon’s mom and her silence is his answer. He knows she didn’t do it because the plan was flawed, it’s because she’s the mom of the man Seung Hee loves. Seung Hee won’t deny that. He asks where she stashed the mom and he can find her if he wanted to. Seung Hee threatens that his interim presidential dreams are over if he does that. PM Jang is amused by her wimpy threats since the next presidential election is coming up and he can be president the legit way. She points out he needs to get support of all the people to win the presidency and he needs to do something big like arrange a North-South leader conference. Can he do it without North Korea’s cooperation?

PM Jang is willing to hear what Seung Hee has to say and her request is for PM Jang to switch the surgeon to Han Jae Joon. His skill will be accepted by the President and after the President is unconscious then Seung Hee will handle the rest. All PM Jang wants is for the President to be unconscious, right? PM Jang thinks this is an interesting proposal and Seung Hee’s one requirement is that Park Hoon and his mom is guaranteed safety. PM Jang snarks that he really doesn’t like Park Hoon and why does he need Seung Hee in this deal? Seung Hee explains that she’s the only one capable of keeping the President unconscious forever after the surgery.

Secretary Kim explains to PM Jang that the unconscious President can easily die after the surgery. If he dies then PM Jang’s term as the interim President will be short. His plans require keeping the President unconscious for a long time so that he has time to arrange a North-South talk and therefore earn kudos to win votes. The other lackey asks if it has to be Seung Hee? There are other good anesthesiologist out there. Secretary Kim points out there are none that will listen to them in this plan and in such a short time they don’t have time to find another. PM Jang sighs that it’s too bad Park Hoon can’t be bought with money and he worries about the loose end keeping Park Hoon alive.

Jae Joon arrives at the hospital and gets a call from PM Jang to come to a meeting immediately. Jae Joon explains he has a surgery lined up and PM Jang tells him to move it and calls him by his real name Lee Sang Hoon. Jae Joon looks over and sees two men in black waiting to whisk him away to meet PM Jang.

Jae Joon sits down with PM Jang who wonders what Chairman Oh would think if he knew Jae Joon’s real identity? He wants Jae Joon to operate on him for the surgery. Jae Joon points out he’s still battling with Park Hoon for the right and PM Jang reveals Park Hoon isn’t showing up at the hospital in the near future so the spot goes to Jae Joon by a default win. PM Jang knows Chairman Oh will be pleased to have Jae Joon win the battle. There is one catch and PM Jang wants to switch the anesthesiologist on Jae Joon’s team to Han Seung Hee. He also wants Seung Hee to handle the after-care for the patient. Jae Joon reluctantly agrees and PM Jang hands him an envelope as a thank you gift. He reveals that First Hospital was destroyed overnight because of the same type of thank you gift he handed over to Chairman Oh. With it, Jae Joon can destroy Myung Woo Hospital overnight.

Hoon walks out of the little clinic to find Comrade Cha (long time no see!) waiting outside with his men in black. Hoon has no choice but to go with him and we see Secretary Kim is along for the ride. Comrade Cha and Hoon talk in the countryside and Comrade Cha doesn’t mince around as he says it’s been a long road here for him and Park Hoon. He felt Hoon’s betrayal like being bitten by the dog he raised and shows Hoon his missing finger as his punishment. But he got another chance that required him to work with PM Jang in South Korea.

Comrade Cha reveals that PM Jang has now decided that Park Hoon will NOT be part of the plan. Hoon’s involvement in the plan is over and Hoon angrily yells what that means? Comrade Cha blames Hoon for his near death fate after Hoon’s betrayal but he survived with only one wish which was to get revenge on Hoon personally. That moment has arrived now and Comrade Cha takes out his gun and points it at Hoon’s head.

Comrade Cha laughs maniacally and tells Hoon to go well before starting to pull the trigger. Suddenly a gunshot rings out and Comrade Cha is shot in the back by Secretary Kim and Comrade Cha falls over the railing into the lake just like Jae Hee fell over the bridge in Budapest.

Secretary Kim walks up to Hoon and never thought they would meet again like this. He takes out a lollipop and Hoon remembers him now as the ahjusshi outside his house when he was a kid. Hoon points out it’s broad daylight so what’s with all the guns and shooting. Secretary Kim says this was Seung Hee….no this was Song Jae Hee’s idea. He wants Hoon to listen carefully, from now on everything being done is to keep him and his mom safe. Hoon worries about Jae Hee and hears that she’s going to join Jae Joon’s team from now on. Hoon doesn’t believe it since Jae Hee promised to do the surgery with him.

Hoon’s phone rings with a voicemail and Secretary Kim tells him to listen to it. He presses play and hears Jae Hee’s voice telling him not to worry and she’ll handle the surgery team issues going forward. He just needs to listen to those people for now and not to worry about his mom because she’s safe. This past month, her reunion with him is a memory that she will never forget. Especially that time when he hugged her so tightly no matter how she insisted that she wasn’t Jae Hee. He was able to recognize her and she’s so touched by that.

Jae Hee explains that she is going at it alone for Hoon’s mom, if he does the surgery and something happened afterwards then there is no one to take care of his mom. Jae Hee asks that he not worry about her, after he sees his mom again he needs to live well with her. Jae Hee will come find him after the mission is done. He needs to promise her that he’ll live well until then. Jae Hee apologizes to Hoon and ends by saying she won’t ever let him feel bad again.

Hoon calls Jae Hee but Secretary Kim takes his phone away. Hoon is about to storm off when Secretary Kim declares that he can guarantee Hoon and his mom’s safety. Hoon wonders why he should trust Secretary Kim and hears that he was responsible for the random sniper gunshots in Budapest that saved Hoon. Secretary Kim took care of Hoon’s mother these past twenty years as well and it wasn’t because he was planning to use her to control Hoon. Secretary Kim knows Hoon is worried about Jae Hee but that child is not as weak as Hoon believes. Hoon is the safe retreat she can come back to after this is all over. So Hoon staying alive is a source of support for Song Jae Hee.

Secretary Kim hands the phone over to Hoon and tells him to decide. To come with Secretary Kim and hide safely, or go against PM Jang’s wishes and continue to place himself and his mom in danger. Hoon silently ponders his two equally terrible choices.

Chang Yi is delivering water like she always does and worriedly calls Hoon but goes straight to voicemail. Dr. Kim walks out to flirt with her some more and hands her sneakers that are a couple with the one’s he’s wearing. A girl comes out and slaps him for flirting with girls after his parents spent all that money putting him through medical school. She chases Dr. Kim back inside the hospital and Chang Yi takes the sneakers.

Jae Joon hears from Dr. Keom and Dr. Eun that they are getting married. Well that was fast and convenient for the plot. Dr. Eun apologizes for being busy planning the wedding but promises to get another anesthesiologist to cover for her. Jae Joon asks if she’ll mind if he swaps her out as the anesthesiologist on his team. Jae Joon wants Dr. Han Seung Hee and Dr. Eun agrees to make it happen.

Chairman Oh is ready to send Soo Hyun off to the secondary hospital until after PM Jang’s surgery. He wants her to go and clear her head but Soo Hyun refuses. Jae Joon is called in and Chairman Oh chews him out for whatever he did to Soo Hyun that made her suddenly interested in Park Hoon. LOL at the zero logic in this drama even on the romance side. Soo Hyun claims it has nothing to do with Jae Joon but he speaks up and takes full responsibility. He asks to keep Soo Hyun here and will handle this. Chairman Oh agrees but orders both of them to leave his office because he doesn’t want to see them right now.

Soo Hyun storms out and doesn’t understand why Jae Joon is getting involved. Jae Joon wants to tell her what he really thinks and asks her to forgive him despite whatever he’s going to do. But never forget that he really did love her. If she wants to forget that as well then it’s fine, he can even accept that she likes another man. But it cannot be Park Hoon, does she get that?

Jae Joon is called in for a heart patient who needs immediate surgery. Jae Joon orders the OR prepped for surgery right away. Jae Joon meets with Chairman Oh to explain that he already had a similar heart surgery patient scheduled for surgery and now another one came in. So now there are two similar patients that can be used for the fourth and final battle.

Jae Joon explains that he was contacted directly by PM Jang’s office to quickly wrap up the battle and tipped off that Park Hoon won’t be showing up anytime soon. Chairman Oh is surprised PM Jang liaised directly with Jae Joon. If they schedule the surgery now without Park Hoon around, only Dr. Moon can do the surgery so they will definitely lose. Chairman Oh points out that the patient will likely die and Jae Joon coldly says winning is more important. Chairman Oh actually CACKLES (no shit!) and says this is more like it.

Chairman Oh calls Dr. Moon in to inform him that the fourth surgery is now scheduled with a new patient. Dr. Moon sees the case file and says this is the same as the surgery Park Hoon did when he arrived at the hospital. Chairman Oh is fine with this case because Jae Joon says he can do it as well. Chairman Oh has lifted Dr. Moon’s surgery prohibition and he can now join Park Hoon in the surgery.

Dr. Moon is laughing happily as he believes this final battle is in the bag. The surgery is one Hoon can do with one hand tied behind his back. He has Dr. Yang summon Hoon in for surgery and reminds Dr. Yang to double check the surgical equipment this time. Dr. Yang can’t get through to Park Hoon.

It’s time for Hoon to brood prettily as he sits at the lake and contemplates his tough choices. He notices all the missed calls but ignores it all.

Dr. Moon stops Chang Yi at the hospital and asks if she knows where Hoon is? Chang Yi doesn’t know and she hasn’t been able to reach him since yesterday. Dr. Moon is starting to freak out and sees Seung Hee wheeling a patient into surgery. Seung Hee claims she doesn’t know where Hoon is and Chang Yi demands to know if that’s true.

Chang Yi speaks privately with Seung Hee and keeps demanding that she must know where Hoon is and to tell her right now. Seung Hee pulls Chang Yi aside and says she really doesn’t know. But she assures Chang Yi that Hoon is safe and not to worry. Chang Yi is worried especially since she doesn’t know what’s going on. Chang Yi threatens to report her to the authorities but Seung Hee orders her to not do it. Seung Hee knows Chang Yi is worried about Hoon and she’s even more worried about the danger he can face. Seung Hee is grateful that Chang Yi cares so much about Hoon but wants her to please do nothing for now.

Soo Hyun hears from a nurse that Park Hoon is nowhere to be found and she runs into Dr. Moon also frantically looking for Park Hoon. They two of them go to the little clinic but don’t find him there. Dr. Yang calls Dr. Moon to report something weird is going on. Jae Joon’s team assembles in his OR and a few doctors wonder where Dr. Eun is and who will be their anesthesiologist? Seung Hee walks in and we hear Dr. Yang report to Dr. Moon that Seung Hee is now the anesthesiologist for Jae Joon’s team.

Soo Hyun orders Dr. Moon to do the surgery himself but he doesn’t think he can do it without Seung Hee or Hoon around. As Jae Joon is getting ready, he’s alone in the OR with Seung Hee and asks her how she knows PM Jang? He gets the feeling that PM Jang is quite familiar with her. Seung Hee wonders how he is aware she knows PM Jang? Dr. Moon arrives at the OR to see the other team all scrubbed in for their surgery. He decides to do the surgery himself and goes to change.

Soo Hyun stops Seung Hee and asks if she really is switching teams? Soo Hyun asks if Seung Hee is really Jae Hee? Er, exqueeze me lady, what right do you have to be demanding answers from Seung Hee like you’re speaking on Park Hoon’s behalf? Soo Hyun can’t understand why Seung Hee is doing this? Doesn’t she know that if Park Hoon loses the final battle he’s off the PM surgery team and also kicked out of the hospital? Looks like Soo Hyun isn’t stopping her “woe is me, I’m so in love with Park Hoon that it’s uncontrollable” nonsense despite knowing Seung Hee is Jae Hee.

Seung Hee takes Soo Hyun’s hand (instead of pushing her to indicate “BITCH BACK OFF! IMMA TAKE CARE OF MY OWN MAN”) and tells her that even if Hoon isn’t chosen for the surgery team and gets kicked out of the hospital, he’ll return to the hospital in the end. Seung Hee assures Soo Hyun that Hoon will return to the hospital where Soo Hyun works. Fuck, if Seung Hee is going to sacrifice herself to save her man Hoon and arrange so he has a replacement girl in Soo Hyun waiting for him at the end, then girl needs a medal and a noble idiocy statute erected for her.

Jae Joon is scrubbing in with Dr. Yang and tells him to do his best to assist Dr. Moon. There can’t be a table death situation during the surgery to compete for the right to operate on PM Jang. Dr. Yang gets the orders do actually be a doctor and when he goes into the OR, Nurse Min also begs him not to sabotage this operation. Dr. Yang promises that won’t happen.

Jae Joon’s team start their surgery while Dr. Moon’s hands are actually shaking as he slices into his patient. THIS IS SO AWFUL I HAVE NO WORDS. The viewing doctors watching the surgery are already calling the win for Jae Joon’s team.

Dr. Moon’s surgery immediately goes awry and his patient’s vitals start to drop rapidly before he massages the heart back to beating. Dr. Moon cuts into the heart and blood dramatically spurts all over him and blood pools in the exposed cavity. He worries about what’s going to happen now. PM Jang watches and laughs about the patient likely dying on the table and how ironic that Chairman Oh is happy about it. He snickers over Chairman Oh not knowing the truth of what will happen after Han Jae Joon wins the battle. Jae Joon’s team finishes their surgery and sews up the patient.

Chairman Oh orders Sang Jin to tell Jae Joon to immediately head over to the other OR to take over the surgery for Dr. Moon. That way Jae Joon can save two patients and win the battle. Dr. Moon is freaking out because he can’t see clearly with so much blood in the cavity. Dr. Yang reveals Jae Joon finished his surgery already and asks if Dr. Moon wants him to summon Jae Joon over to help? Dr. Moon agrees and tells him to call Jae Joon over to at least save the patient. Jae Joon gets the call and says he’ll be right over.

The door opens in the OR and Surgery Jesus has arrived all dramatically back lit by gleaming white light. Is it Jae Joon? Of course not, it’s Park Hoon to the rescue! Hoon walks in and jokes about what’s the big fuss going on? He declares so dramatically that it’s time to change players like he’s the Sixth Man and this is five minutes into the first quarter of the basketball game, rather than open heart surgery.

Thoughts of Mine:

I feel like I’m leading an expedition lost in the desert and everyone is slowly baking in the sun and running out of water. I’m trying to keep the spirits high in hopes that we’ll make it out of the desert alive, but deep down inside I know there is nothing but even more desert beyond this one. So survival and escape is but a cruel hoax like the ending of this drama clearly doesn’t portend any well-earned payoff. We’re all still watching and suffering for the masochism of the experience and even the sliver of hope that something good may come out of it is no longer present. I take no solace in reading the drama right from the very beginning until it started going off the rails starting in episode 9. The mid-section when Seung Hee arrived and her identity remained questionable was nicely done IMO because Hoon managed to suss it out with the heartbeat hug. I said it then and never wavered that he knew she was Jae Hee and therefore everything he did from that moment on was to protect her.

Their fight in the later episodes when he claimed to doubt whether she was Jae Hee was just Hoon pulling a brain fart, he of all people knew who she was. It’s probably good that Hoon is able to be angry with Jae Hee, to say hurtful things, to be a petty man, that actually makes him feel more human than the Surgery Jesus persona that swoops in to save every surgery. I similarly enjoyed watching Seung Hee’s silent struggle and conflict through the tiny eye gestures that gives her real identity away but for some fans insisting her identity was still suspect. If she was a doppleganger then nothing she did after episode 9 makes any sense. If she’s just doing her mission and leading Hoon on with whatever her mission required, then Hoon would be long dead by now with how many times PM Jang or Comrade Cha have decided to off Hoon. It’s by the grace of Jae Hee’s smarts, and Secretary Kim secretly helping her to protect Hoon, that Hoon isn’t six feet under by now.

Soo Hyun’s character is so so annoying just seeing her face onscreen annoys me now. Sorry Kang Sora, I’ll rewatch Ugly Alertafter this is done to spend quality time with you, this drama is something you’re just going to have to scrub from your fans minds after all is said and done. I said Soo Hyun’s narrative arc with the daddy issues and the step-family torment and falling for one guy while dating another, all of that felt like it was from a family drama accidentally wandered over to this one. It didn’t fit and stuck out like a sore thumb. Now I think even if it was in a family drama by now Soo Hyun has fallen into a pit of self-pitying crap that she can’t crawl out of and ruins whatever is left of her character’s dignity and motivation. In finding out Hoon’s beloved Jae Hee has been here all along, she just keeps crying about her own hurting feelings and running away to avoid having a genuine talk about it. If Soo Hyun had the guts to like a man she knew was taken, even if she believed Jae Hee was not around, then she needs to man up now and talk with both Hoon and Seung Hee about it. Like Hoon all she wants, but deal with the consequences afterwards.

If she spoke with Seung Hee, she would have realized how bad Seung Hee was feeling that Soo Hyun was hurt by it all. It would help Soo Hyun actually work through this unrequited crush and then eventually move on. Soo Hyun cries like her world has ended over Hoon not liking her and over Hoon’s girlfriend being around. Seung Hee cries over heading to a mission with her death warrant pretty much signed, and leaving the man she loves behind so that he can survive. The stakes are so disparate it makes Soo Hyun’s sadness feel so lightweight and her salty tears pathetic. If Soo Hyun ends up with Hoon because Seung Hee/Jae Hee doesn’t survive, so be it, but I’ll always remember that Jae Hee risked her entire life and soul so that she can keep her man safe and happy, even if she doesn’t live to see that day arrive. I think Hoon’s memory of Budapest and the voicemail was the kicker needed to remind him of how it all started – it all started because he would do anything to be with his Jae Hee again. Hoon may take out his frustrations on her when he hasn’t an outlet to relieve his feeling cornered but she takes it and keeps doing her thing to protect him.

The never-ending cycle of surgical battles continues in this episode complete with yet another last minute crisis in the OR. I thought Chairman Oh couldn’t sink any lower, and he sinks even lower by cackling happily that Dr. Moon will do the surgery and maybe kill a patient in the process, all so Jae Joon can win. Jae Joon also returns to win at all costs attitude, even if in the end both Jae Joon and Chairman Oh decided to help out Dr. Moon and save the patient. Their initial disregard for human life remains so sick to behold and this drama has had it’s share of totally unethical and flat out criminal behavior all around the hospital. PM Jang has now switched his plans around for the umpteenth time and sadly this one won’t stick as well since Surgery Jesus Hoon showed up at the last minute. Will it be Hoon and Seung Hee doing the President’s heart surgery in the end? I still think so, which makes me wonder how to integrate Jae Joon and Soo Hyun into that critical event other than they will end up as Hoon’s surgical assistants in the OR. LOL, what a crazy mess of an operating team, complete with love lorn second leads and a pair of OTP that’s got a proverbial barrel pointed at their heads to put the President in a permanent coma. Clearly Comrade Cha isn’t dead since in this drama a gunshot wound and a fall into a body of water is like getting a knee scrape. He’ll probably show up even more bat-shit crazed and maybe shoot up the OR during the Presidential surgery. One can hope for the writer to actually go out with a super bang. Anything is better than the plot being hijacked by a second female lead’s one-sided crush taking precedence over other more substantive developments.

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Dr. Stranger Episode 16 Recap — 170 Comments

Amen to that last sentence! I am seriously gonna flip a table if Seung Hee/Jae Hee ends up dying and Hoon ends up with Soo Hyun. The only thing to right this derailed train a little bit would be letting the original OTP have their happy ending. Anything else would just be a farce and totally unforgivable! I have stopped watching this drama since a few episodes back but I find myself coming back for a dose of your interesting recaps 🙂

Btw holy crap 4 MORE episodes? This drama should have been 16 episodes or less that’s for sure, cutting away Hoon’s sudden dual personality, the whole character assasination of Soo Hyun and the endless recycling of operation case “challenges”…

I totally agree with you! This drama should have had just 16 episodes, cuz I bet it wouldn’t have gone astray as it is going right now. Actually, I think Doc stranger had a lot of plot and potencial to have 20 episodes, but they decided it would be better to focus in useless teenage romance D; and they forgot all politic-medical stuff.

Is it just me or anyone else is with that feeling they are indeed gonna kill jaehee so they can make a reason to doc oh and hoon end up together? I keep seeing those hints and oh, my, no comments. seriously.

I check your website every day and read your recaps etc but never post any comments because of my limited English.. but today I just had to comment …I must say I enjoy your blog very much …you tells it like it is… keep doing what you have been doing and best of luck in the future with whatever you try your hands at. (excuse my poor English)

Watching the beginning where Soo Hyun asked Hoon why he didn’t tell her anything, I really wanted to jump right into the screen , b***slap her so hard across her face and yell at her why Hoon has to tell her anything. None of what’s happening concerns her ONE bit. Hoon should have slapped her or something. I ABSOLUTELY loved the part where she got hit by that ganster dude. Hoon should not have stepped in. Soo Hyun should get hit multiple times. I again wanted to jump into the screen and slam her face straight into that table when she was crying. I’m convinced everytime Hoon rejected her, it goes trhough one ear and out the other. Seung Hee should not have been nice with Soo Hyun. She should have told her off. That Hoon was off limits to Soo Hyun. All we can hope is Jae Hee to survive and have her happy ending with Hoon.

Considering that violent-tendency Soo Hyun has now slapped Hoon three times and kicked him in the nuts once, it’s probably payback if Hoon slaps some sense into her. But sadly he’s too nice and probably feels a little bit bad that his flirty predilection led her to toss all personality out the window and fall in love with him so madly her world might end if she doesn’t see him again.

At this point, I really hope the flashback of Budapest, and the voicemail thing changes Hoon back to the old Hoon that would do anything to save Seung Hee/Jae Hee. The Hoon that loves her so deeply and can’t live without her. That’s the Hoon I want back. Jae Joon needs to step up his game with Soo Hyun. Jae Joon should knock some sense into her, and get themselves a happy ending with each other. A better option is to have Soo Hyun forgotten by everyone just so we don’t have to see her anymore. By the way, your recaps are soooo entertaining! Keep it up, only four more episodes to go!

Koala, thank you so much for your recap and your color commentary! Love love each word that you wrote. Never laugh so hard reading a recap. Please keep up the good work. I don’t know where this drama is heading to but I hope you’re still there at the end of this crazy ride. Can we hope that Hoon’s Budapest flashback and JH’s voice mail might bring back the old North Korean Hoon? I really miss that Hoon. Maybe Jae Joon will be Hoon’s first for the President’s surgery after he finds out the real truth about Hoon’s dad. But please, please drama God, keep Soo Hyun away from Hoon, JH and JJ. The drama moves better when she’s offscreen and we aren’t subjected to her “woe me” tears.

Maybe Soohyun could die and Jaejoon could ruin that hospital (it’s not like it’s a good hospital anyway, since people should be scared to go in), and Hoon and Jaehee live happily ever after in Germany.

This! This should have happened! Let’s hope Jae hee and Hoon have a happy ending together. That’s the only thing that would save the show now besides taking away all of Soo Hyun’s screen time. She is literally not needed at all int his story. Anything to do with Jae Joon’s revenge to Soo Hyun has NOTHING to do with the “main story”. The summary of the drama, and even the trailers, are telling us that the story is based on Hoon and Jae Hee’s love and doing whatever it takes to get back together and lead a happy life together.

This thing wont be even worth watchin with jin se yeons acting. Luckily it has LJS and PHJ or else this would get even worse rating. At least those happy moments with SHyun gave ppl something to watch.

Everyone in this drama is crackers. The only difference is everyone is crackers about the “insane heart surgery put the President in a coma” plot. Soo Hyun is crackers about “Oh my god I fell in love with Park Hoon and now my world is ending” plot all on her own. She’s like the crazy lady dancing alone in the corner at a party held at an insane asylum. Everyone may be crazy but she’s in her own delulu world.

well, what is so wrong about So Hyun being sad? It’s all natural for one to be saddened in this kinda situation. Plus she’s still holding it well. Not all going crazy and violent. To me her character still makes sense than the rest of them.

Ha!”she is the only sane person in that drama”? If she is “sane” with all that crying/whining over a man (that was never hers to begin with) I would sure hate to see her reaction if she was an insane person.

Bitch Please! She treated them as her friends. She was always open about her feelings to both of then and neither bothered to tell her anything. He waa flirtling…. yes.. every other girl looking for love would call what he has been doing flirting.
He could have said anything sooner that she doesnt stand a chance but he didnt.
i would like to see how you react if your friends does the same with you. You trusting them and them hiding things from you.

I wouldn’t really mind if Soohyun genuinely fell in love with Hoon, it’s all well and good, in fact I support her heart. However, she’s become too lovesick for her own sake that her once great no-nonsense character regressed to a pathetic shell. She technically knows that Hoon has a girlfriend, in fact she has all but admitted that she’s well aware of that to Jaejoon, but she still insisted on pursuing Hoon even when he made clear that he’s not interested. Then she gets upset because Hoon gently denied her, then ultimately she just kept pushing until Hoon just had to push back, hard. And what does she do? She mopes some more. I would’ve been more sympathetic to her had she been COMPLETELY ignorant of Hoon–but she wasn’t, she was perfectly aware of where she STANDS and what their relationship means to Hoon–friendship. I salute her courage to admit her feelings, but she definitely had it coming already.

Ultimately for me, I’m not really pissed or have any strong feelings towards Soohyun (lolfictional character much?) as I have not an iota of care for her character to begin with. She’s just another beautiful piece of an expensive furniture in the backdrop of a house that has been hit by a tornado, that I really fail to see her relevance to this show, that I just tune her out whenever she’s onscreen. But boy do I love to see these desperate Quack shippers who are probably more deluded than Soohyun herself get all their panties bunched up.

Why hello there dear Quackers, you loved to bash JSY but rarely do you see anyone bash KSR personally, I say it’s just fair game to lambaste the *fictional* Soohyun than any more of the shit that JSY personally has taken from you guys. So pucker up.

Even if jon de yeon starred opposite LJS in this drama, it wouldn’t make this one magically un-suck itself.

This show has been on fire and is already in the rubble. The acting is the least of my worries especially when it’s tolerable. It’s this fandom that loves to bring problem to the show and kept on putting their deluded inputs to turn it to shit. Spare me your excuses because blaming the actress is like blaming the meteorologist why it is raining. You’re purposely annoying people, and everybody can see it. I can’t blame you, intelligent critique is hard to come by now these days.

The meteorologist cant do anything about the weather but an actress can at least attend classes to improve. Unless of course she doesnt have any talent for acting at all..your getting annoyed because u allow yourself to get annoyed… not my problem

With the appropriate ending ( Jae Hee ends with Hoon regardless of who does the surgery ) this drama can be in the same league as ‘I hear your Voice ‘ or ‘ My love from the Star’. If Hoon ends up with Quack …the drama will be a forgettable one….the plot would be seen as totally pointless.
Thanks Koala, for the ‘ fun to read ‘ recap!

Ahhh Koala your recap made me cry and I NEVER cry. I swear if Jae Hee dies because of her noble idiocy and Hoon ends up with that Quack I wil go to Korea and have a long not so nice talk with the writer that may or may not include some flipped tables.

Plot Twist: Both the president and PM Jang suffer an MI at the same time and BOTH Hoon and Jaejoon has to do the surgery now. The final test would be who of the two would wake up first, hence, would take power of the presidency. Per usual, something ‘worse’ happens with Hoon’s patient (another plot twist: PM Jang is the patient) as he’s forced into a moral dilemma of saving the one man who he has deeply despised. In any case PM Jang survives the surgery and lives, but not soon after his plans being exposed to the president, is stripped of his title and goes to jail.

Enter epilogue: Hoon and Jaehee are happily chatting and planning for the future of their new found freedom. Jaehee receives a cryptic text from her phone and skittishly excused herself from the conversation. Meanwhile Soohyun sees Hoon and decides to talk to him. Then from a some nondescript corner a shadow lurks, then we see Comrade Cha! He pulls out his gun as always and readies to shoot Hoon–however Jaehee who has been running sees this and screamed Hoon’s name. Both Soohyun and Hoon gets alerted of what is happening, but Comrade Cha wastes no further time and aims the gun at Hoon. Both Jaehee and Soohyun leaps into action. Gunshot is fired.

Ooh drama. I just rolling my eyes everytime Soo Hyun appeared in this drama. How much again the writer pull out some delusional question on her mind, ‘I want mmuhmuh happiness?!!’ Ew ew ew. It’s so contrast when we have selfless Jae Hee here. Hoon is too good to have Jae Hee. That’s why he falls in love with her in the first place I think (despite how they first met each other), that quality side of hers. I just cry with Jae Hee for this episode.
T^T

i really hope hoon and jae hee would end up together. to be honest, i don’t really like kang so ra’s acting skill since i watched dream high 2. but that’s not the reason why i don’t like the “quack couple”, while many people do ship quack couple because they don’t like jin se yeon’s acting skill or expressionless face. that’s what she had to do for acting the character i supposed? remember she has mission to complete which is a secret to everyone out there who don’t know how risky her life is right now.

anyway thank you, koala. u’re making some sense to me. haha! yeah right, hoon should have the budapest flashback which he was willing to risk his life to save jae hee. jae hee deserves hoon so much than soo hyun. she just came from nowhere and now fall in love with hoon and is trying to beg hoon to look at her? well, she should really stop that and make some sense. since she has known that seung hee is actually jae hee, why doesn’t she feel any guilt and yeah, keep crying like the world has ended. she should really step out from jae hee and hoon’s relationship and go back to JJ. perhaps some viewers might think that she doesn’t deserve anybody now as JJ is too good for her.
so, does pure love ever exist? remember how the couple kissed, engaged, promised each other, i wouldn’t like to see that everything would change because of the daughter of a hospital director who has a higher status but the position in the medical team is very confusing, and get to do whatever she likes. i really wish to see the love between park hoon and jae hee is strong one and unbreakable by anyone. it’s true that it’s all up to the PD of this drama. i’m here just to give some comment.:)

Funny i know other dramas with spies and still they manage to at least show different emotions. Have you actually observed her face while acting… there is nothing in there.. she always have the same face over and over again.. the thing she does with her eyebrow is just such a pain to look at.
And her character is nothing new.. its a cliche actually since many heroins in drama risked their life or own happiness for the one they love..
why doesnt jae hee feel any guilt for lying to her even though they are friends… and soo hyun actually trusted her…

Have you even watched the latest episodes?!! Even though Jae Hee didn’t do anything wrong, she apologize to whiny that delusional quack and even hugged her. And when Jae Hee was trying to talk to her after quack saw her and Hoon, quack was trying to say excuses so she can avoid a confrontation.

I watch the episodes and all i can see is a face with the same expressions over and over again..
and dont tell she didnt do anything wrong… playing with ppls lives isnt good dear
i dont care if she apologize or not… you cant feel it.. she just cant act… even when LJS is with her if she cant show emotions then even he cant save her anymore

There is one fix that could save the storyline: have Hoon and Jaehee live happily ever after. We could forget the crazy if the engaged couple – thank you Koala, for reminding us of their actual status – if they at least got live happily and safely elsewhere.

I just remember my first post in DS thread(soompi)..I said that my favorite character was Oh Soo Hyun…now, after 16 episodes, she has become one of the most annoying character that ever existed in Kdramaland.. Seriously what happened to her character? What a clingy b***h! Everyone, except Seunghee/Jaehee should just go back to their old self… I missed those characters!!

Hello. This is my first time posting. Nice to meet you all. I’m a silent reader and I decided to post today. regarding this drama, the actors are doing a great job however this drama no THAT WRITER is really messed up .Though i continue to watch it this drama anyways. Your recaps are the best ms koala especially ur comments at the end. Seriously Surgery
Jesus Hoon, that cracked me up..

Oh poor KSR…i never thought her role here could change so drastically from tough girl to this fragile person i see now.she start so strong but ended up to be so pathethic!i just hope she did not end up in the mental hospital or something….

Hopefully Hoon is swooping in to toss Seung Hee’s noble idiocy medal off the roof and kick down that statue before she can do more than lay the foundations. Mad-eyes Hoon needs to make a brief re-appearance and just refuse to let her take on this burden alone.

I do have a bit of fear that the drama is setting Soo Hyun up as his fallback girlfriend because of all the screentime she’s getting but if it happens I’ll take comfort in the fact she’ll always be the runner up, a replacement because Hoon can’t be with his real love.

Soo Hyun’s storyline could have been about fighting the corruption in her family’s hospital, the princess who thwarts the knight’s revenge plans and takes over the castle herself but nooooo let’s watch her cry over her all encompassing love for the guy who’s in love with someone else.

God I hate this show so much. I lost count of the number of times I facedesked. I predicted most of what happened during this episode; not because it was logical progression, but because they were using every last cliche in the book. Just leave me in the desert, comrades….I fear I may not make it

umm, i guess she is neutral towards both female leads since she said sorry and would watch kang so ra’s other drama again. she was just expressing how she think about the character in doctor stranger, not the actress though. we’re all trying not to be offensive 🙂

“Surgery Jesus Park Hoon” makes laugh rolling on the floor… Thanks Koala’s for recapping and wish you have good future for your good narrative skills.

I likes Seung Hees character so much that she is lady in physically but mentally strong inside…. She needs to have flat expression and serious because she is a spy and secret mission to complete. She have heavy burden on her shoulder. I don’t understand y some ppl hate her and Jin Se Yeon because she is meant to be like this. If we were in her situation we would be like this too or even worse. I hope Hoona understand her more and protect her.

Not every spy has a flat expression specially when with the one you love… but this girl just cant get it right..not even the crying scene.. its like watching kang sora crying in dream high 2..so terrible

i pity you @you..you must be so devastated during their date scene that everything for you went flat. you must be wishing its your mother duck who gone out dating hoon..you expect seung hee the spy to give you a twinkling eyes like your sora. think who is she dealing with and she is a spy in a doctors robe not a club singer or a spy who carries losded gun.

@you..if you think this drama is going down then i wont blame the writer i can only blame the ducklings. seung/jae hee is the most consistent character. its a shame for a ljs fan like you who did not watch his drama properly.

@lc pff even the best actor cannot save a badly written drama. To me jsy does well in her role. I can feel her pain and her love for hoon. When she cried, it broke my heart. it’s ok if you don’t feel or see it. Just to say your view is also a personal opinion, not a fact.

I still wonder what was the relationship between Jae Hee and Seo Hyun’s mom. Was that lady an agent from the North like Jae Hee or why those two were linked. Maybe will found out that those two are sisters: one raised in the North with her father and other raised by her mother in the South. Only Jae Hee’s father appear in this drama, but not her mother.

At first I thought that Han Seung Hee was an antagonist with her suspicious character and selfish actions. But now the script proves me wrong, she is selfless and considerate. Now I find that Hoon and Jae Hee will make perfect couple while Soo Hyun can go to Cheif Han whereas I prefered Soo Hyun with Hoon before Jae Hee changed for the better.

When jaehee said that she won’t be a burden on hoon anymore.. That totally broke me to tiny shattered pieces on the floor. The amount of love she has for him that she’s going to sacrifice herself for the second time, I swear I can’t.. I watched many dramas but this affected me the most. I really adore Jin seyoen a lot! Let’s not mention the part where she started deleting their pics together but left one, if the writer kills her and soo hyun ends up with hoon I won’t flip tables Imma flip the writer himself six ft under the ground with so hyun..

Just something to say.. I’m a Quack shipper, and I feel like your a little harsh or biased on Soo Hyundai in recaps.. I get it, it’s your opinion, but just for someone who likes Soohyun, it’s kinda harsh..

If you like that second lead that much, just go read recap in drama beans. It is sooooo bias for Quack idiot.

Koala just writes what she wants, and anyway it is true. SH is just another selfish brat second lead, lol.
And I don’t even need to be a shipper to hate her character in this drama.
Well yeah, objectivity is not something you can buy.

And JH Is just a cliché character im getting tired looking at.. and her terrible acting is juat as worst as before.. this girl manage to ruin three dramasnin a row that i was looking forward to. Just stop acting girl

@you..you think your sora act well too..you little duckling your eyes is blinded by mud too by much swimming in the mud. is too much twinkling in the eyes is good acting?her role is the easiest to play even kim ji young that kid act better than her..rewatched the part where 500won kid ask hoon to save his dad. they said the same line with same purpose but that kid nailed that part.

Okay here’s the thing…. Either way some one is not going to have a happy ending. That’s a given at this point. In regards to soo hyun…. Ohh boy. Poor ksr, they really butchered her character. Not gonna lie she was a little too bitchy in the beginning but this is just the opposite end of the spectrum yo…like someone else mentioned she should have bee down to earth and upfront with dealing with her heart ache or whatever- take it like a toughie you know. Have some self respect and be cool- tell seunghee and hoon you’re sorry for crossing the line didn’t do it on purpose but you feel how you feel but not gonna let that run your life. And freakin be badasss and flip yo daddy!!!!!! DAM.

Dear writers, don’t get into the delusion that us fans like Soohyun-Hoon couple. We absolutely despise Soo Hyun. And I hate Hoon too, why the fuck is he flirting with Soo hyun and lying to Jae hee. Arghh it just angers me. Jae Hee has pretty much sacrificed her whole life and he is is there winking and hugging Soo Hyun. I can just feel the anger. I have never felt so damn frustrated ever. If the writers decide to kill Jae Hee in the end, I’ll come to your houses with a loaded gun.

If you think you can write a better drama than the writer itself then go on. But you have no right to tell how the drama should end. And there are many korean fans who actually rooting for them to end together so speak for yourself only.

We have no “right” to tell how the drama should go? Then let me tell you straight up: you have no right whatsoever to tell us what to do! Just go to your little pond and quack for the rest of your life.

LOVE your recaps, Ms. Koala. I was laughing so hard at your comments and visuals that my husband, who has sworn repeatedly that he will NEVER watch a K-drama, admitted he might have to change his tune just to see what could possibly be so amusing about your recaps! NICE! And thank-you! “Surgery Jesus”? Add an Amen to that hallelujah, Sista!

This whole recap was awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially how you called out on everyone’s dumb shenanigans. And like you, I am rooting so hard for Jae-Hee. She’s the only character I can adore (Hoon to a lesser extent) and would hate for her to die. It disappoints me that Hoon hadn’t been actively trying to work out saving her and himself in previous episodes like he had in the first two episodes..but hopefully the next two weeks will change that.

Should you go with some cream with that? Refrain from seating for too long and straining yourself as it may cause exacerbation and bleeding. Also, avoid spicy foods and reading the recap altogether, it’s bad for your overall rectal health.

Dude, why don’t you take a hike? Yeah yeah we know you hate JH and JSY and you luvvvv that stupid selfish crying “woe is me” second lead quacker. Why does JH need to die when she’s central to the story and is hello, the male lead’s FIANCEE while the duck is nothing more than Hoon’s delusional lovelorn stalker? Get a clue. Oh wait, you can’t since youre also a duck like the drama. Delusional KS fans like you created the mess that is DS. But I should also thank those delusional fans for her character assassination in the drama – that’s the writer FU to all her fans. Congratulations

Funny how all of u think i like2female lead. I honest couldnt care less about her right now. Its all about the great actors surrounding these actresses. Actors who r doing their best for this drama to be a success and actress that doing nothing but showing a blank face

From the very beginninv ppl had little expectations towards her acting ability. I thought well LJS AND HER were in same agency so maybe she will have better chemistry with him and act a little bit better than her last dramas. But no.she should take a break or attend acting school again before she acts besides actors like LJS and PHJ. She may be a rookie actress but if shes not capable of portraying a character then maybe its not her destiny. I mean there must be a reason why she dies in her dramas.

We GET it! You don’t like JSY. But relentlessly saying it OVER and OVER again like an annoying broken record isn’t going to make a difference to her acting. Be a little more creative and change your tune.

If ljs is such great actor as you claim him to be, he could have easily ‘save’ this drama. . Thing is he is the lead, jsy doesnt even have that many scene as ksr so your point how only because of ONE actor coul ruin an entire drama is invalid.

He is the lead for a reason…. his good acting IS saving this drama from having even less viewers. And jin se yeon isnt getting much scene time because she cant act well. This way the rating wont get down

Although it’s just a hypothesis, if we’re to just base it to fan support and star power alone and if by for some reason, JSY left this show mid-way through, I doubt if this show would still be able to keep its ratings afloat just the same.

Great Acting? That’s such an easily bandied word now these days. Appreciating actors and actresses based on their acting is just as fickle as deciding whether a piece of painting can be considered art or trash.

And really repeating the same thing over on how one specific actor is soooo bad in acting doesn’t constitute a higher level of intelligence past that of a parrot. Most especially attributing a drama’s success on it alone. IF the drama is only relying on its actor’s star power to keep it afloat then the problem lies with the very narrative itself.

You said it yourself @you, why criticize the writer when it’s the actor that is lacking? But all of a sudden you just professed that it is solely LJS keeping this drama from tanking? You’ve just contradicted yourself. So without the actor this story is shit then (it already is). Decide on one argument and stick with it. Otherwise your grasp (or lack of) in simple logic shows.

Also I don’t think that LJS is that GREAT of an actor myself–there are many instances when I find him overacting, the same way KSR does too. There is a fine line between becoming emotive and having the appropriate emotion. Bawling and shouting are just one of the few emotions to show intensity, but for some reason LJS and KSR loves to use the same technique redundantly. That’s not as masterful as many of their fans think they are. Although JSY is limited to expressing the fullness of her personality–as her character is always sulking and therefore wearing the same sulky face for most parts, it is still consistent, though others are quicker to judge it. I can very well say the same thing for all 4 characters, though closest and just as prone to monotone facial expression is PHJ with his equally cold Jaejoon.

Other finer nuances such as changes in mannerisms are left to the audience’s discernment. Some say that JSY always furrows her brows–which she does–but so does KSR. I would gladly screnecap if it if I had the chance, but I’ve definitely noticed it, it’s that one eyed furrow-look-of-concern as opposed to JSY’s double furrow. These are things that are highly subjective as it may annoy others, some may find it likable, while some won’t even notice. Again, judging acting is a highly subjective exercise. So I really wouldn’t put much weight on it if only because part of a great actor’s performance is attributed to the script and directing as well.

Also despite JSY being a rookie actress, I especially found her scenes with Comrade Cha engaging and during that particular scene where she unloaded his gun, that was like a different JSY altogether. There is brilliance waiting to be polished beneath all that rough edges.

I dont think intelligence has anything to do whether i like a certain character or not.i dont have to be intelligent to be able to feel emotions and if you insist otherwise its like saying ppl with with instable mind cant show dislike or love…
but yeah i dunno about others.
and about the writer. everyone knew it was based upon this book… all other characters are able to do the job… its just her who cant.

i think that jae hee is total jerk cuz she wanted to have everything hoon and his love and happy life though he is the only one to suffer and soo hyon has the right o fall for anyone ….. no one has the right to forrbiden her ….
i’m with soo hyun to fall for hoon insted of this mysterious jae hee
luv luv luv luv soo hyun

You mean HOON is a total jerk–because he wants to have everything, Jaehee, a happily married life, and all those silly human stuff, though it’s only Jaehee who has to wear the bigboy pants and haul every obstacle along the way just to ensure Hoon’s happiness.

Every time I read people wanted Jaehee has to die from beginning and they said Soohyun is the one that makes sense in this drama makes me laughing so hard like have you been watching this drama from the 1st episode or you guys just watch quack face all this time? XD

Soohyun literally smirk when she sees Hoon holding tight Jaehee’s hand and she was like ‘uweh uweh quack quack’ you should told me Jaehee is here I should have listen to Jaejoon LMAO again. Soohyun literally to most pathetic second female lead in history. They trying to make her a good guy but also pathetic and clueless as hell.

No offense but if Jaehee really died obviously Hoon will never exist in this drama. The reason he live because Jaehee tries to convince them that Hoon is useful. But then Jaehee heart broken when she find out Hoon lying to her about being with Soohyun makes Jaehee thought that she’s only a burden to him. Thus she told PM that Hoon will no longer joining the mission and she’ll be the only one doing that and lock the bullet on her head but in return Hoon and his mom remain untouch.

The one that ruining both Hoon and Jaehee happiness now is the second female lead that everyone like so much~ All the sacrifice Jaehee made all this time is not for her but Hoon. Please remember is Jaehee doesn’t agree to be a spy and help from behind Hoon already been dead cause he knows the truth about Myungwoo Hospital and PM evil plan. But NOOOO he didn’t because an angel always protects her from behind and everyone want to kill that angel who protects Hoon because they want Hoon with Soohyun.

Yeah that’s right. If you visit soompi thread you will know which one is insightful shipper and which one is speaking rubbish.
Seriously, they are like sky and land.
Most of Hoon and Jae Hee’s shipper are polite and write insightful post about the couple and the plot. But most of quackers are just quacking quacking and so annoying.

I disagree with you. I love Kang sora here. She’s more adorable than jin seyeon. She looks more suitable to Hoon than jae hee. jae hee character is so annoying here. When soo hyun and hoon together, there will be laugh but when jae hee and hoon together, i don’t think they have chemistry. i think at first, kang sora is the female lead of this drama so i watch it. but, after seeing this, i regret watching this drama.

Then don’t watch it!
I regret watching this drama because the second lead has a stupid fandom who keeps threatening the production team and bashing another actress so their idol will get more screen time.
OH her stupid fans also ruin this drama’s story. Shame on you

U r so pathetic,,i think u have serious mental problem,,u said the same thing again & again to show ur hateful towards JSY,,please use ur brain when make a comment,,otherwise its just show ur dumb side,,similar with quack..quack..quack..,,annoying & irritating,,

thank you @s3nbky for the post i realized ive been replying to this pathetic yoyo.i shoudnt have done it. but one last time lol @you she received an award as best new actress at kbs not mbc u know and theres one at sbs. those people who choose her are the ones who decide who cant act or not if your not one of them then your claim is as pathetic as you.

Funny how you ppl are so affected that you feel the need to reply to my hateful comments. And i am a sanr person… you dont seem to find anymore words to defend this character so just bash on me…
I think thats what most ppl, who criticize JSY, get- you calling us pathetic or having mental problems. Well i as a viewer have the the righy to voice out my opinion since well i am watching the drama – although only for the sake of LJS. Shr as an actress knows well how this industry works. And being criticize by ppl is one of them. If she were doing a good job theres would be no reason
to say otherwise. But sry ppl she just cant act. Her expressions are always the same her face blank.

If i were you i really wouldny pay much attention yo that person. Have it occured to you that maybe its just a troll wanting each fandoms to bash each other. There are enough of them out there too.
I am a KSR fan but in this particular drama i support the OTP since their story is just beautiful although sad.
it actually hurts me when ppl say all KSR fans are bashing seung hae. Because we arent. These are just fictional characters and one must understand to seperate real from fictions. One can criticize but maybe in a friendlier manner.
It is how the characters are written. If no one is offenden or irritated by someones actions in a drama then it would be boring since there would be no action at all. Just my piece of cake.

I really don’t care about the actresses …both acted quite well and in line with what the director wants them to portray…SH is shallow and self centered , JH is intelligent, aloof and cool. They both nailed their characters. The JH character as the female protagonist fascinates me. JH has similarities with Kim Na Na role in City Hunter. Only difference is City Hunter writer developed Kim Na Na ‘s role into various dimensions. JH role was not developed at all and I find this super strange. You can find SH character everywhere ..they are annoying females who have no shame…and to give maximum airtime to this character puzzles me to no end…it’s never about the actresses ..we are discussing characters…

hey @you, if you dislike JSY so much why are you spending so much time talking about her? I can understand when people post a few times to complain about things they don’t like but you keep posting the same thing over and over again in a single recap.. Why don’t you just spend your time talking about or doing things you like and get some life instead?

I’m not even a fan of JSY but you make yourself look like a pathetic, butthurt Quack shipper.

Because some needs to know thats she indeed cant act at all. And the interesting thing is… ppl always asume, when you critize this character you are automatically from the other fandom… ur just the same.. tsk tsk tsk

Well to each their own because some people believe she can act and has the potential to be great. Everyone has different qualifications of what they believe to be good or bad acting. There are plenty of actors out there that other people may think oh wow he or she is great and I see them and think they are mediocre, but that does not mean I’m gonna constantly post comments saying they can or cannot act. You keep saying that “some needs to learn thats she cant act at all” Stop forcing you opinions on what good or bad acting is. It’s tiresome and once is enough.

Ohh so back to bashing me again since you just cant deny that she cany act at all.. and why would i want to teach her. There ppl you cant teach even if yoy want to since they just dont havebit in them and she is one of those. So better use her other qualities.

hahaha..now soo hyun is their mother duck. and funny now everytime i see ksr on screen she remind me of a duck thanks to her minions of ducklings who keeps quacking quack quack quack. even i saw a duck on a pond it reminds of her lol. worst still last sunday i pass a food stall selling duck rice i dont really eat duck rice but somehow it made me stop and laugh. doctor stranger fighting hope evryone will get their happy endings.

That pathetic woman’s dead mother is probably rolling in her graves after seeing how she behaves in the last two episodes. For shame. WTF are you doing throwing yourself at another woman’s man, when you know full well that he’s taken. WTF are you doing ditching your job to cry and mope around over it? Bitch, please. Your mother didn’t sacrifice her life for you to behave that way. You’re a grown ass woman, act like one.

@you You know, I find that you have a very sad life right now. It’s time for you to close that computer, get off the damn chair, and go outside and socialize. I’m pretty sure 99.0% of us here can agree that the mood here was 100% better before you entered and started on bashing Jin Se Yeon. Guess what, I’m also sure we have read the same damn complaints since the whole series started. Get a life, and get over it already.

If you have time outside of your professed active social life and the constant repetition of the same thoughts over and over again, can you please spend it brushing up on your writing skills.

I’m talking basic spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. It’s painful trying to read what you write regardless of the content.

You may have an active social life but your online activities are woefully lacking in netiquette both in form and in substance. If you want your comments to be taken seriously it’s not going to happen unless you write like a moderately educated person rather than someone overflowing with verbal diarrhea.

since its open for anybody… better accept that there will be some with another point of view. Either accept it and go on with your own life or we can continue arguing… i cant care less.
there are enough ppl who dont have english as their first language and still that shouldnt or wont stop me from saying what i want to say.
You are the one who take my comments personal so its not my fault you actually stop to read my comments.

i think that jae hee and hoon are very selfish people cuz they identified each other from episode 7 and still say nothing to dr oh…
if they told her that they found each other she wouldn’t still fall for this stupid jerk hoon …..cuz i think she has a big heart and always stand next to him ….she almost abondon every thing for his sake so no one has the right to blame her for loving him ……
and this jae hee is total selfish cuz she hide her identity and she lives with her what a b i t c h ……

Just joining on for a comment. I fail to understand why either Hoon or Jae Hee needs to give Soo Hyun an explanation. The reality is, they don’t.

Hoon has always told So Hyun that he was madly in love with Jae Hee – in other words – he was a taken man. NOT AVAILABLE. Yes, he was messing around with So Hyun by joking and clowning around with her, and because she was so starved for love and affection, she fell for the first man who related with her in that manner.

But as a woman, when a man tells me that he is passionately in love with another woman, and would do anything to find her, it clearly tells me that if I fall in love with him, it’s clearly AT MY OWN RISK and I have myself to blame.

Now, you can argue that So Hyun needed an explanation because Hoon had earlier solicited for her help. I would say that argument has some merit. But the explanation can be only be given to her as a friend. And as a FRIEND (NOT a besotted colleague) I would give my friends the benefit of the doubt to explain to me at their own time and convenience. That’s what friendship is.

if she didn’t need an explaination then why this so called hoon was looking for her in ep16 if he doesn’t care and feels that its not his business that she loved him …..
and why did he hide that he met her from jae hee ?????

It’s a courteous thing to do. Although he never needed to explain anything to her to begin with because he made it specifically clear that they’re friends. It’s not too long ago that she started to be extra pushy with her feelings, and by that time, both Hoon and Jaehee are already head deep into the conspiracy. Remember Comrade Cha’s threat? Yes, Soohyun could very well be dead by now if not for some stroke of luck that Comrade Cha is rotting down some pond.

Regardless, she’s not to be own an explanation, much more to be comforted like a child that’s throwing tantrums. Not even Changyi would have known it herself not until she deduced it from both Hoon and Jaehee’s actions. Did Hoon also owe her an explanation? Maybe because both of then are from NK. But Soohyun? It’s not Hoon’s responsibility that she fell in love with him and now she seemed like a fool because she did not heed his words earlier. She brought it down upon herself.

Thank you for that logical explanation. It’s tiring to see excuses for Soo Hyun’s behavior like “she didn’t know Jae hee was alive, or that Seung Hee was Jae Hee, etc.” Soo Hyun knew exactly what she was falling for as she turned a blind eye against Jae Joon’s advices and she even acknowledged it to Jae Joon that Hoon only had Jae Hee in his heart.

Soo Hyun was also like “Jae hee might not even be able to come down”(not the exact why she said it). That really bothered me. She needs to learn that just because a person’s significant other is not next to them doesn’t mean you can take them away.

I have searched this site to read an recap of ep 16 since I don’t watch it anymore…because of my little freetime besides work and because of the plot development… but I’m still a bit curious to see how it will end…therefore I read such recaps…
I like this recaps here although the comments are sometimes too hard in my opinion…
I originally never wanted to give a statement but I’m really shocked about some of these comments of other people here…
I really wonder why there are people who need this aggressive style to comment on the characters of a drama?…
I liked both female characters before I stopped watching this drama and I think I don’t have a reason to change this after the last two episodes…
Yes, their characters are very different but from reading I understand and tolerate the behaviour of both female leads (and yes, I can understand a bit, why SH is sad about Hoon not telling her about JH as she didn’t know about the reason of hiding it and Hoon acts like some typical men without much empathy for not being able to understand this!).

JH behaves more cool and somestimes also cold and she didn’t tell Hoon about the conspiracy first but only bacause of the danger. It is understandable considering her past. She has experienced more hardships in her life until yet and there are many humans who loose their greenness and lightheartedness through such hardships…
She also acts very considerate, noble and selfless which I really like about her… and I like it to read how she acts more considerate as her man…
I wished that she can have a happy end with Hoon because of her good charcter and her many hardships. Now I don’t thinks that there can be a reason anymore ro dislike her character.

But I also see that those characters like her are likable but often a bit like a fairytale character to me because they don’t exist so often in real life. My older sister is a bit like JH: she is a warm-hearted and more selfless person but sometimes people find her behaviour a bit to cool since they don’t know her so good.
SH was more tomboyish in the beginning and naive and didn’t do her job as good as she could have done… yes this was annyoing but if I reflect on my life until yet I have to say that there were also times in my life where I didn’t do my best for some periods of time. She does not have so much life exerience like JH and also not so much really dangerous hardships in her life but she has some emotional hardships with her family and this is exactly the reason why she is more childish amd naive and later cares more about her feelings first. This is not detestable in my eyes but a normal mental development for such a woman with such a family background and this could be very different if SH would have a drastic change in her life and would be 10 years older from now on…
I could understand her reactions why she didn’t leave her boyfriend dirctly… why should she leave him when she doesn’t want to see first that she is in love woth another man?
I could understand why she acted unreasonable towards hoon although she knew about JH: poeple in love often act unreasonable and why should she stay away from Hoon when he isn’t together with his beloved girlfriend at the moment and she tries to say to herself that she isn’t in love with him?
I know the stories of my own life and the stories of so many female friends and female people from my work place and know that our behaviour wasn’t always so much different from this behavoiur of SH because we are not saint- like like JH (although many of us sometimes wished to be like her) and also not have her life experience.
I don’t find such behaviour of human beings only selfish and annoying but normal human behaviour to a certain degree. She is a sensible and insecure person who wants to be loved which is understandable from her past and I know so many people who reacted like her because they were simply without enough self assurance.
Considering her introduction with her boyish and more cool behaviour in conncetion with her past and her living at her father’ s house it is no wonder that she reacts with crying and self-pity now: she is able to acknowledge feelings of being in love and this “pathetic” behaviour is psychological better than have your feelings inside without showing and acknowleding them.
As I have (and have had) some different tasks and work places in pedagogical and psychological field of work I constantly meet many different people with different characters and hardships and try to understand their behaviour every day… I exactly teach them to let their feelings out and that it is better to cry than to hide those feelings and to act always cool and especially with slapping other people… I’m more glad about SH crying than her acting cool because for her it is psychogically more of a progress concering her past.
Everyone admires cool and restricted people more because nobody wants to be weak and act emotionally selfish but it not healthier! I also know and daily see sad and sometimes also bad outcomes of people who tried to hide and to end different kind of feelings without acknowleding them.
Those kind of people also more tend to bash and critizise other people`s apparentaly “weak” emotional behaviour without seeing that it is more detestable and psychologically “weak” to bash other people with harsh and really aggressive words like “want to slap her”…
It is not unusualto cry with all your heart about being dumped for the first tiome (I estimate it is the first time like this) and being a fool and not knowing about other collegues love and a fathers past. From a psychological point of view it is better to cry about with all your heart and to self-pity yourself in such circumstances and let it out because after this you can let go of this feelings easier and more healthier. Besides is not easy to let go these feelings so fast if you see the beloved person constantly every week…
I also know how myself and some of my friends used to cry about being dumped or being in love with someone who already had a girldfriend and some of them cried for many months after confessing…
You could call it “pathetic” but we were unexperienced and now we are simply older and more experienced in life ( and married like me) and because of this it is different…
SH in my eyes is not completely grown-up until yet to behave like that but I don’t hate it because I know enough people around her age who have/had the same behaviour because of a lack of life experience and also real love life…she can improve herself in the future through this experience…

I always try to see other peoples potentials and not their humans mistakes as in my opinion there too many people who critizise others instead of improving their own personality…
I really can understand if people like one of the female charcters more (more the cool saint type or more the emotional ordinary human being with little mistakes type) but I don’t understand how people can speak such harsh words about one of those charcters as both of them have their good and understandable sides…
I think JH as such a good person who she is would also be disssatisfied after seeing some of the comments here…reading how she behaves in ep 16!!!
How dare someone to describe how good JH as a person is and to critizise SH as a inedequate and bad behaving person if this person writes/behaves inadequate herself/hisself within her/his comments?
I don’t understand this!

“I can understand a bit, why SH is sad about Hoon not telling her about JH as she didn’t know about the reason of hiding it and Hooon acts like some typical men without much empathy for not being able to understand this.” -Here’s the deal, none of Hoon’s and JH’s business concern SH ONE bit. They are no obligated to tell SH anything.

“People in love often act unreasonable and why should she stay away from Hoon when he isn’t together with his beloved girlfriend at the moment and she tries to say to herself that she isn’t in love with him?” -There is so many things wrong with that. Just because one is not with their significant other, DOES NOT mean it gives someone else the right to take that person away.

And yes, Soo Hyun wants to be loved. But she is not being loved by Hoon in ANY WAY. Hoon outright literally told her off, that they will NEVER be together. Does she listen at all? Nope, she doesn’t. Jae Joon is the one that truly loves her. But does she really give him a chance right now. Does she ever stop to think about what exactly is she even doing with her life?

Concerning the first point: I never said that JH and Hoon are obliged to tell SH something but nevertheless I can understand SH’ feelings if she thought of Hoons and her relationship as more than only “normal and formal colleagues” what she surely did and every person can do such a mistake. I can understand why a human being would think and feel like this in this situation because if you are really in love you are more than usual sensitive and to be in love is seldeom the state of very rational and logical thoughts and feelings.
I’m only a bit surprised how harsh some people critize her for some harmless and a bit teeneger-like feelings and actions… because in real life I’ve met many people who are not bad people at all and who behaved much more sensitive, more irrational, more aggressive and more strangeforward being in love… For me SH actions are really harmless…
JH is also not obliged to say somthing about their relationship but she nevertheless acts different than Hoon towards SH as she has a lot of more sensitiveness towards this situation and probably can understand SH simply better than Hoon.

Concerning your second point: Yes,normally I would agree but in my opinion she didn’t conciously plan to take Hoon away from his beloved girfriend because in this case she could have done so much more and more aggressive as she really did. I didn’t see that she really aggressively tried to kiss or seduce this man! The first one who actively searched for body contact was Hoon and even my husband said that Hoon cannot complain about women falling in love with him if he does such things to them. SH didn’t coldly plan to get this man, she only fell in love and did some irrational things which many people do if they fall in love. And falling in love actually does not always happen with people who are single…

I don’t know how it is in your home country but I know so many people here who really began relationships with married people or peole who had a partner for many years.. First they tried to avoid it but they couldn’t as they saw the beloved person often…
This is really bad behaviour but it seems to be human and in contrast SH’s behaviour is so harmless …
Besides that SH really didn’t coldly intend to take Hoon away from his woman and how I have read it she felt sorry towards JH for her behavior and explains it with not knowing about her and Hoon…
I have seen so many more really bad second lead characters in K drama concerning love to a first lead…

Additionally, you can see Hoon and JH love as a nice “never ending love concept” but if I would know a man who tells me about his first love but actually did not see her for such a long time and don’t know where she is I wouldn’t consider it as a crime to go after this man if he wasn’t married to this woman before… But this is irrelevant as SH didn’t conciously plan to go after Hoon…
And concerning your third point:
Only because a man loves you you cannot decide logically to stay with him and only because the other person does not love you you can’t always stay away from this person or eliminate your feelings for this person and yes, sometimes you try to go near this beloved person more than one time also if you were dumped before. I have friends who loved a married person for many years and more than one person left their boyfriends who still loved them for other men as they didn’t love them anymore. And also in such cases the other men not always loved them back… it has been so similar to SH case… and they are not only bad people…
If I had only done so few things like SH to get my husband I would have stayed single without him…
SH is really not much important for the plot but she at least isn’t a really bad person like some people consider her.
And JH isn’t either…
Everyone has a own opinion, it is okay.
Originally my only reason to comment here was my irritation about how harsh and cold some people talk about such harmless characters. I really hope those people don’t talk to other real people/or about other real people like this…

It’s not the point whether SH’s character is realistic or not. What does matter is how she’s related to the whole drama plot. So far deep into the 2nd half of the series, many viewers including me still cannot see her significance in the main plot development but SH still takes a lot of screen time. As ockoala mentioned to the point, SH’s sidelines have hijacked the major storylines of the drama. Too much irrelevant showcase given to the 2nd female lead whose role is not even appealing as a heroine is the major reason that the drama still cannot deliver a convincing plot at this point. The production team is running out of time to amend too many holes, small and big. I hope the script writers learn a lesson this time that they should not pamper particular OTP shippers to a point that the main plot is overshadowed.

Why? Jae Hee had a kidney transplant in N. Korea wherein her father was the donor.
People who have kidney transplant are supposed to have 3 kidneys. They have their own 2 non-functional kidneys which are not removed and the donor/transplanted kidney (the 3rd kidney) is placed in the iliac fossa.

Seung-Hee’s CT scan which Soo-hyun saw has 1 left kidney. Seung-hee had a right nephrectromy (removal of the right kidney). I was looking at the CT scan myself and for any transplanted kidney in the iliac fossa but there was none. I know how to read CT scans and I have witnessed an actual kidney transplant when I was a med student.

The writers should have just read about kidney transplant in Wikipedia…It’s free for pete’s sake.

Before embarking in this ambitious drama, they should have googled the difference between a nephrectomy and a kidney transplant…and too bad, our genius Doctor Park Hoon doesn’t know the difference…to think that he was the surgeon who performed the transplant. Really???

I laughed out loud at myself when you implied we viewers were like masochists still hanging there watching this drama. Hahaha…so true. But I feel back to normal again after reading your recap and all the comments that offer greater entertainment than Doctor Stranger itself. Thank you for being persistent in doing hard recap of a drama with such an ill-developed plot. Please keep up with your good service and I’ll rely on you for recommendation of good dramas. Salute to you, Miss ockoala!